


Homecoming

by Isabear



Series: Summer Pornathon 2012 [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Airplanes, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Celebrations, Diplomat Alice, F/M, Fireworks, Lightning - Freeform, Pilot Merlin, Summer Pornathon 2012, Team Gluttony, coming home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-06
Updated: 2014-07-06
Packaged: 2018-02-18 23:52:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2366594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isabear/pseuds/Isabear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>The land below her was a sea of darkness, broken only by the bright colors. She laughed like a child.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homecoming

_Pop! Pop!_

Below, so distant they could hardly be heard under the roar of the small plane's engines, tiny bursts of color sprang up in the night and faded. Here, a red one opened like a flower. There, green shivered to gold before tumbling earthward again, fading.

Alice kneeled on her seat and pressed her nose to the thick window. She could see a dozen towns beneath them, colors springing up from each in unique patterns and styles. A blue and white finale began over Mercia, while Gwynned burst into a fountain of flame.

"Beautiful," she breathed.

In the pilot's seat of the tiny aircraft, Merlin glanced back at her and smiled mischievously. "Hang on," he said, swinging them into a wide, slow arc that tipped the wing in front of her down, pressing her even tighter to the glass. The land below her was a sea of darkness, broken only by the bright colors. She laughed like a child.

_BANG!_

She felt more than saw the immense arc of lightning that leapt from the cloud beside them to a distant cloud, several miles away. A flash of light engulfed them simultaneously with the sound that seemed to grab the tiny aircraft and shake it like a dog with a bone. Merlin's fingers went white on the controls. He leveled them out quickly, hunching forward.

After that, the heat lightning took over, drowning out the show below with a display of its own. The raw power of nature flexing its muscles, joining in the celebration with a reminder of who was truly powerful here.

They landed in the dark, wind lashing at the wings, with only a faint set of lights to guide them in. Merlin did it more by feel than sight, stretching out his magic so far Alice could feel it over the storm. Trustingly, she closed her eyes and waited for him to bring them down.

The moment they had touched down and taxied into the hangar, she was up out of her seat. Merlin caught on to her urgency, unloading their bags quickly. It wasn't raining yet, but with the wind lashing the trees outside, it would be soon.

"Thank you," she said quietly, laying a hand on Merlin's arm.

"You're welcome," he chirped, lifting both their bags, seeming to understand she meant more than just carrying her duffel.

A short walk over the hill and they were in Ealdor. The fireworks were already over here, but she could still smell powder and magic in the air, even as the wind whipped it away. The Smiths nodded greetings from their front porch. Hunith waved from the window above the grocery, and Merlin blew her a kiss.

And there. Their own house, coming into view. Freya came running out, and Merlin dropped both bags to pick her up and twirl her around, setting her down on her toes again before kissing her soundly. Alice smiled, moving past them at a more sedate pace to stop at the bottom step and take Gaius's hand, leaning into him.

"I'm glad you're home," he murmured, worry and pride mixed in his gravel voice.

It finally began to rain, chasing them all inside.

***

Hours later, she lay in their bed with her cheek on Gaius's shoulder, listening to the children go a second round through the thin walls and trying not to laugh.

Gaius smiled, then shadows chased it from his face. "The negotiations?"

"As well as can be expected. With the Saxons still pressing, Camelot is more willing to court than coerce."

He looked away, pensive. "I should be-"

"No, love," she told him firmly, as the bed in the next room slammed into the wall in time with Freya's cries. "You should be here, helping build Ealdor. The influence you once had with Uther is gone."

"I don't regret it." He spoke low, under Merlin's desperate whines. "I don't regret following you, even if I might have helped more by staying."

Ah, her beautiful, guilt-ridden husband. Revolution never suited him, and yet a revolutionary he had become. Three dozen states stood independent in the wake of the Great War between Camelot and the Saxons, urged on by the rhetoric of freedom from Camelot's own Prince Heir. And there in the background was Gaius, advising and cajoling and forming the alliances that kept them free.

Merlin and Freya gasped their completion next door as Alice curled tighter into her husband's arms. 

"The people are celebrating," she whispered. "Tonight, let's join them."

**Author's Note:**

> For Summer Pornathon 2012 challenge #4, "Minor Characters".


End file.
